Rufus Wainwright: 'You're an odd sock bunch of people, you Welsh'

Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who headlines the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, talks about writing for Dame Shirley Bassey, being besties with Sian Phillips and his 'loony bin' night out in Cardiff

But as the New York-born scion of musical royalty - his parents are folk legends Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle - takes time to explain, he’s built up something of an affiliation with Wales recently .

“I’ve been mixing the album version of the first opera I wrote, Prima Donna, just outside Cardiff,” he reveals down a crackling transatlantic phone line.

“What’s the name of that town with the pretty little pier again?”

Penarth, I suggest.

“That’s the one, and I’ve been working with acclaimed classical producer Andrew Keener, who’s also one of your countrymen.”

In fact, he’s from Barry and has been overseeing the making of the LP, recorded in London back in January with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.